Let's get one thing straight: I wasn't supposed to die.
One minute, I was happily slurping down a bowl of ramen while rewatching One Punch Man for the twentieth time. The next, a giant, glowing truck came out of nowhere.
Inside my apartment.
Truck-kun had no chill.
The next thing I knew, I was floating in a vast, empty white space. It was quiet. Calm. Almost peaceful, if not for the tiny issue of being, y'know… dead.
And then he appeared.
A laid-back guy in a cheap Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses on his head, sipping a coconut drink with a tiny umbrella. He looked like someone's drunk uncle at a beach party.
"Yo, kid. Uh… big oops on my end," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Was sorting souls after my vacation and… kinda mixed you up with some old guy."
I stared at him in disbelief.
This was God?
"Tell ya what," he continued, perking up. "I'll make it up to you. You can reincarnate into any fictional world you want, with one wish. No strings attached."
I didn't hesitate.
"One Punch Man world. I want Escanor's power."
God grinned, gave me a thumbs-up.
"Done and done."
He snapped his fingers.
And the world went dark.
I woke up to a blurry ceiling. I felt… tiny. Soft. And cold.
I tried to scream, but it came out as a high-pitched wail.
Voices rang out around me.
"It's a boy!" someone cheered. "No—wait! Twins!"
Twins?
Then, a young man's voice spoke up, laughing in a loud, carefree tone.
"Gwahaha! Both healthy, huh? Bet these two'll be strong as hell!"
Even as a newborn, something about that voice sent a chill through me.
That laugh. That voice.
No way.
That's Monkey D. Garp!
But he didn't sound like the old man from the anime. No, this voice was youthful, full of cocky confidence. Like a 20-something hothead Marine who hadn't punched enough mountains yet.
Which meant…
I was just born in the wrong world.
And not just any world — One Piece.
I wanted One Punch Man!
And my Escanor power? It was still here… kinda.
Only instead of the sun, it responded to the moon.
New moon? Weak as a baby seal.
Full moon? Absolute musclebound monster.
The more moon there is, the more ridiculous I get.
This was going to be a problem.
And so, I, Kazuki, reincarnated as Monkey D. Iron, twin brother to Monkey D. Dragon, was stuck in the wrong anime world, with the wrong version of the wrong power.
Somewhere, that God is sipping another drink and not even realizing what he's done.